This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Pin and grommet fasteners are commonly used in the automotive industry. Use of a pin and grommet fastener typically requires insertion of the grommet into an aperture of a joining part. The pin typically must additionally be both inserted into an aperture of the grommet and seated within the grommet aperture. Seating the pin within the grommet causes legs of the grommet to expand laterally and lock the pin and grommet to the joining part. Thus, in known grommet and pin fasteners, the pin typically must be seated within the grommet as a separate step or operation that must be done after the grommet is inserted into the aperture of the joining part.
In some cases, the pin can be assembled to the grommet with the pin retained in a partial, temporary, or shipping position within the grommet. This pin and grommet fastener assembly can then be shipped to a manufacturing plant. Thus, the end user need only handle a single assembly, and does not need to manage separate pin and grommet components. Such an assembly eliminates the need for the end user to initially insert the pin into the aperture of the grommet. Nevertheless, the pin and grommet assembly typically must still be inserted into the aperture of the joining part, and the pin must still be seated within the grommet as a separate step or operation that typically must be done after the pin and grommet assembly is inserted into the aperture of the joining part.